HBA-CCH, MPM H.B. 2082 77(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 2082
By: Eiland
Public Health
3/21/2001
Introduced



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Currently, services provided at a federally qualified health center (FQHC)
are included among the optional services that a county may offer under the
state's Indigent Health Care and Treatment Act.  The funding a county gives
to such a FQHC can be counted toward meeting the eight percent spending
threshold a county must surpass to receive state funding.  In order to
apply this money toward the threshold, however, the county must spend the
money on services for people who meet the eligibility criteria laid out in
the Indigent Health Care and Treatment Act.  House Bill 2082 allows
counties to credit money given to FQHC's toward the eight percent threshold
regardless of whether the clients served meet the eligibility criteria of
the Indigent Health Care and Treatment Act. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does
not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state
officer, department, agency, or institution. 

ANALYSIS

House Bill 2082 amends the Health and Safety Code to provide that a county
expenditure made for optional health care services provided by a federally
qualified health center (FQHC) in accordance with the Indigent Health Care
and Treatment Act and rules adopted by the Texas Department of Health  is
included for purposes of determining whether the county meets the minimum
expenditure level imposed by current law, regardless of whether individuals
served by the FQHC meet the income and resource eligibility requirements.
The bill applies only to indigent health care services that are delivered
on or after January 1, 2002. 

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2001.